Posted in Alvvays, Jersey City, NJ, The Beths, White Eagle Hall on September 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 7, 2024] The Beths / Alvvays
Holy cow what a fantastic show! I saw The Beths twice in a few months about a year ago and they were fantastic. I would happily see them again.
And Alvvays is one of my wife and my favorite bands. And there they were together on the same night. And we haven’t seen them since 2017.
But this show was plopped right on the same night as the Pearl Jam show that we absolutely not missing.
Bummer for doubling up on concerts.
Posted in Glen Hansard, Pearl Jam, Philadelphia, PA, The Frames, Wells Fargo Center on September 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 7, 2024] Glen Hansard
My wife and I won a ticket lottery for these tow Pearl Jam shows and scored floor seats to the Wells Fargo Center! We arrived early (but not crazy early) and were something like 100th online. So when we got into the venue, we were about three people from the stage! It was amazing.
We were really early of course, but the floor seating included a concession area with couches and food and drinks and a bathroom all within easy access. We quickly made friends with two really nice women from Minnesota (Hi Greta and Molly) and we saved each others spots when we used the facilities.
They had seen Glen Hansard before but we had only seen him with Marketa Irglova (which was fantastic).
Glen Hansard created the movie Once. He is an amazing performer, a passionate musician and a hugely charismatic and funny individual. (more…)
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, St. Vincent, The Met Philadelphia, Yves Tumor on September 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 6, 2024] St. Vincent
I have seen St. Vincent four times and each time was a totally different experience.
The first time was in 2015 at XPN Fest. She was so good that I wanted to see her again on that tour (since her set was a little shorter due to the co-headline). But she did not tour that album again. In fact, when she toured again, it for Masseduction and that tour (in 2017) was radically different. For the previous Daddy’s Home tour, it was 100 percent different again–with a cool stage and backing singers and a kind of narrative.
This time it was more like a rock show.
The set was more intricate than most, but there were just a couple of moving parts. And there was a video screen that was mostly used for lights and minor projections.
My wife and I went and we were in slightly better seats than last time, but you really want to be closer to the action with St. Vincent (although, tbh, we were going to see Pearl Jam the next night and we knew we’d be standing for hours, so the seats were a nice treat). (more…)
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, St. Vincent, The Met Philadelphia, Yves Tumor on September 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 6, 2024] Yves Tumor
I saw Yves Tumor last year on a headlining tour. They played a bigger venue than the Met, which is kind of interesting. But I was delighted that hey were opening for St. Vincent both for the exposure and because it meant I’d get to see them again.
Except I really didn’t see them at all.
For the entire set, they were backlit and covered in fog. I literally never saw Yves Tumor’s face. It was surprising because I feel like Yves is such a visual artist and because it made the show a lot less interesting. And also because Yves is a star in the making–I feel like they sound like Prince if Prince were just coming out now (sometimes their voice sounds just like Prince’s)
Musically, they sounded great. They played a condensed version of the show I saw the previous year. Shorter songs, a lot less fanfare and soloing, although there was a lengthy jam at one point. (more…)
Posted in Bakar, Cage the Elephant, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Young the Giant on September 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2024] Cage the Elephant / Young the Giant / Bakar
We saw Cage the Elephant open for Beck five years ago–I can’t believe it was that long ago. They blew me away and I knew I wanted to see them again. This show proved to be one I wasn’t going to go to. I instantly bristle at going to the Mann even though the venue is great–the parking is just such chaos.
But we already had tickets to see St. Vincent that night and we weren’t going to miss that one. So I do hope they come back again next year.
Young the Giant is one of several bands that came out at around the same (like Cage the Elephant) that had this ___ the ___ formatting. It was very confusing at the time and I’m still not sure I know which is which. They seem pretty good, but I don’t know any of their songs.
I thought I didn’t know Bakar but it turns out that I know his hit Hell n Back from the radio. He plays a kind of mellow, warm, satisfying music–kind of rapping with a hint of reggae. His music would be really nice to hear on a warm summer night at an outdoor venue.
Could have been a fun night.
Posted in Built to Spill, Franklin Music Hall, Kicking Giant, Philadelphia, PA on September 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2024] Built to Spill / Kicking Giant
I have seen Built to Spill five times and have enjoyed every show. This tour promotes the 30th anniversary of the album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love. I thought I knew this album pretty well, but it turns out that I really started getting into them with the album AFTER this one.
But I was still really excited to see this show. They announced a show at Franklin Music Hall which bummed me out because I don’t really like that venue (and it was the same night that I had tickets for at least 3 other shows). But then they announced this show at Asbury Lanes which was awesome. I grabbed a ticket right away.
I couldn’t go to that show, which did leave this show. But I already had tickets to see St. Vincent, so I’m missing this show.
Last time that BtS toured, they came back through the area a second time about four months later (Philly in May, Bethlehem in September), so I secretly hope that they will do that again maybe early next year? But they played a lot of shows on this tour, so I’m not holding my breath.
The name Kicking Giant sounded familiar (more…)
Posted in Joy Division, New Order, Peter Hook & The Light, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on September 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 4, 2024] Peter Hook & The Light
Back in 2022, Peter Hook & The Light toured Philly. I grabbed tickets but we wound up not going.
This show was described as being all Substance–both the Joy Division and the New Order compilation albums. I was pretty excited to see the show. Last time El Ten Eleven opened and I had REALLY wanted to see them. This time there was no opener, which was great in that it would be a pretty early night but bad because it mean there was no good parking nearby.
But that’s okay. I arrived plenty early and got a decent spot near the stage (between two really tall guys one of whom didn’t smile for the whole show).
And after a show time, Peter & the Light came out on stage. I hadn’t really given any thought to his band, which includes David Potts guitar (and lead vocals on a couple of New Order songs), Paul Kehoe drums (at first I wasn’t sure what he was doing since here were a lot of electronic drums, but when he kicked in it filled up the room) and Martin Rebelski keyboards and synthesizers (who frankly did most of the heavy listing in this show–playing bass lines and synth lines and drum lines). Hook’s son Jack Bates plays bass, and guitar. Indeed, when Hook wasn’t playing those super memorable bass lines, Bates played them.
I knew roughly what they were going to play (they told us, after all), but I didn’t realize that New Order would come first.
I also thought I knew Substance quite well, so I was puzzled how come I didn’t recognize the first couple of songs. It turns out that each show they are playing a couple songs not on the album first (and they vary per show).
I thought I knew Substance really well, but it’s possible I haven’t listened to it in a really long time. It wasn’t until Temptation that I started to fully recognize everything. The early songs sounded great and sounded familiar, but it took me a while to really groove to it (unlike the guy in front of me who was literally dancing (and had a lot of room around him) from the time of the house music. (more…)
Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Built to Spill, Floating Witch’s Head on August 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: August 31, 2024] Built to Spill / Floating Witch’s Head
I have seen Built to Spill five times and have enjoyed every show. This tour promotes the 30th anniversary of the album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love. I thought I knew this album pretty well, but it turns out that I really started getting into them with the album AFTER this one.
But I was still really excited to see this show. They announced a show at Franklin Music Hall which bummed me out because I don’t really like that venue (and it was the same night that I had tickets for at least 3 other shows). But then they announced this show at Asbury Lanes which was awesome. I grabbed a ticket right away.
Then I found out that my son was going back to school that day. So that would be kind of weird to drop him off and then rush off to a show. Then it turned out he didn’t have to go until the following day, but it would have been even worse to go out on his last night at home. SO I blew off this show.
Last time that BtS toured, they came back through the area a second time about four months later (Philly in May, Bethlehem in September), so I secretly hope that they will do that again maybe early next year? But they played a lot of shows on this tour, so I’m not holding my breath.
I’d never heard of Floating Witch’s Head who are
a new Boise-based project concocted by Travis Ward (guitars & vocals) with Michael Mitchell (drums & percussion) and Eric Gilbert (keyboards & head shakes). RIYL: garage, psych, swamp, proto-punk, acid rock, beards, hot peppers, pickles, parties, nice people
The last few tours I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the opening bands. Last tour I loved Blood Lemon but hated Wetface. Floating Witch’s Head I’m feeling ambivalent about. The description above is pretty accurate and I do tend to like this kind of music, but the song I listened to is really pretty standard fare, nothing that excited me.
Posted in Dell Music Center, Geese, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA on August 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: August 27, 2024] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Geese
I’ve seen King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard three times. Each time the show has gotten more and more crowded and chaotic (which is great for them but not so much for me). The last time I saw them, I was pretty far back in the crowd and even that far back there was a lot of mini-pit situations going on. I basically decided I wasn’t going to see them again, but I’d still love their music.
Then they announced this show at The Dell Music Center, which I’d never been to. It’s an outdoor venue near the Mann Center. It has seats (or bench seats at least) and promised that I’d get to see them without having to fight to stand up the whole time. So I was pretty excited for this one. (more…)
Posted in Big ‡ Brave, Bruise Bath, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Spiritual Poison on August 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: August 23, 2024] Big ‡ Brave / Spiritual Poison / Bruise Bath
I saw Big ‡ Brave open for Sunn O))) back in 2017.
They play slow and loud. And their songs are very bass-heavy even though there is no bass! Two guitars making very low rumbles. The band is a trio–2 guitars and a fairly sparse drum kit. Robin Wattie on guitars and vocals, guitarist Mathieu Bernard Ball and drummer Louis-Alexandre Beauregard.
I really enjoyed the way some of the songs were maybe two chords, sometimes possibly even one chord, just repetitive and lulling (but really noisy) until it began to morph into something else.
I would have loved to see them again. I cannot even comprehend how loud they would have been in that tiny venue (and how loud it would have been downstairs!) But it was the night before we were going on vacation, so I wasn’t going to go out. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 